Contents

Gate Overview

In gate two we will be dissecting our Toro Snow blower while documenting and showing the appropriate steps as we go.

Project Management:

Preliminary Project Review:

From our previous plan of assessing the challenges as early as possible and solving conflicts as soon as possible is continuing to prove effective. Our team motto being “Plan the work, and work the plan,” is still very affective. At the beginning of this gate we had sat down and discussed what the roles are going to be through gate 3, which allowed us to pre-plan the work very assertively and delegate people to tasks, with checks and balances along the way so the work is being done in a timely and accurate manner. We as a group have continued to set internal deadlines with adequate time to correct/redo work as needed. This has proved itself correct in justifying team responsibilities and collaborative works for a team effort.

We as a group feel our plan is working. On the first gate we got all of our work done and to our Wiki designer only to realize we had left out a section. Because we finished everything early we had time to go back and catch and correct our missed section.

Specific Resolved Challenges:

Since gate 1 our group has lost 2 members bringing us down to only four. We lost our technical writer which has forcibly stepped up the need for us to work ahead of schedule and delegate more responsibility to the remaining members. We are finding the absence of these members very detrimental to the overall performance of our group, due to the outside workload brought in from their absence. But as in the working world, a group member may not be readily available if one gets fired, or quits, We have tried to make the best of the situation and be more organized with our group meetings. We are now meeting twice a week to discuss future plans and responsibilities.

Unresolved Challenges:

Our group challenges are still revolving around the class schedules of the individuals in the group, we are very rarely able to get all four of the remaining members into the same room at the same time for more than an hour, due to sporting events, extracurricular activities, or commuting issues. Another issue is being the 3D modeling which is in a later gate, we have already looked into the issue and assigned it to Joshua for researching a modeling program and means to render components in the program. We have lightened his load on this gate to make up for the long hours he is going to have to put in to resolve the lack of experience we all have in such field.

Complications in dissection:

During the dissection of the snow blower, we encountered stripped out screws, missing screws which were holding components on via zip ties, a missing belt from the belt drive, and cracked engine mount. These issues were resolved as we faced them. We are also as a group intending on replacing the missing screws (previously missing) and screws we were forced to bore out with the same size, and pattern screw that were previously installed by the manufacturer. Finally the last complication we encountered was due to our snow blower not being drained of its fluids. During transport of the unit, one of the member’s cars fell victim to these fluids. After dissection of the gas tank we properly disposed of the fluids to a small engine shop in the Amherst area.

Difficulty for the following steps are rated on a 1 to 5 scale. WIth 1 being easy and 5 being the most difficult. The rating system is only comparing the difficulty compared to other assembly steps. These ratings were coculated with taking into acount the time it took to assemble the part, the number of tools used, the force needed to put back together part and the amount thought needed.

Product Dissection

Difficulty for the following steps are rated on a 1 to 5 scale. WIth 1 being easy and 5 being the most difficult. The rating system is only comparing the difficulty compared to other assembly steps. These ratings were coculated with taking into acount the time it took to assemble the part, the number of tools used, the force needed to put back together part and the amount thought needed.

\'\'\'Table 3: Level Key\'\'\'

Level of Difficulty

Explanation of Level

1-Minimal

No Tools Required

2-Easy

Single Tool Used

3-Moderate

Two tools used, i.e. socket with wrench on nut

4-Some level of difficulty

Two tools, with minimal work space to perform task

5-Not meant to be taken off

Was unable to dissect without significant effort and elaborate means of craftsmanship

\'\'\'Table 4: Chute Assembly\'\'\'

Step #

Picture (if applicable)

Instructions of Dissection

Level of Difficulty (from above provided chart)

Tools used (size and quantity)

1

Discharge chute housing, remove the (4)-9/16" carriage bolts that attach the chute to the outer shroud of the snow thrower

Use a 6.5mm socket to remove the (2) screws holding the magneto retainer wheel to the engine mount

2

6.5mm socket

32

To remove the throttle housing, remove the (2) 7/64" Allen key bolts

2

7/64" Allen Key

33

Remove the (5) Torx key socket for removal of cylinder head chamber

3

Torx key

34

Remove the (2) 6.5mm screws on the Carburetor Assembly to expose the Carburetor throttle barrel

3

6.5mm socket

35

By using a 4.5mm socket undo the two screws to loosen the shaft bearing

3

4.5mm Socket

36

Using a hammer and appropriate force, force the piston out of the by bottom by striking it dead center of the piston

2

Hammer

\'\'\'Table 7: Rotor Assembly\'\'\'

Step #

Picture (if applicable)

Instructions of Dissection

Level of Difficulty (from above provided chart)

Tools used (size and quantity)

37

Remove the (8) 7/16" bolts, (4) washers, and (8) locknuts that connect the rotor to the rotor shaft assembly

4, the bolts were very difficult to get to

7/16" socket set, and 7/16" wrench

While dissembling our snow blower we came to conclusion that every part was intended to be disassembled except for the removal of the piston. Although some where more difficult then others we were able to remove all the components. We came to the conclusion that the piston was not meant to be taken out because the structural integrity had to be degraded in order to remove the pushed bearing assembly.